When erecting cut trees such as Christmas trees and specimen trees for display purposes, tree stands for gripping and supporting the base ends of the tree trunks are used. In addition, many different forms of such tree stands have incorporated therein pan areas in which water may be placed to extend the display life of associated trees. However, such stands represent a considerable expense and often are not of a construction providing ample support against tipping of the tree on display.
Many tree stands are constructed of metal and include three or four legs, but such leg-equipped metal stands include legs which are actually quite flexive and offer little resistance to the associated trees being initially angularly displaced from upright positions with the result that the center of gravity of a display tree may be disposed considerably off-center before the legs of the tree stand begin to offer reasonable resistance to further tilting of the tree. However, after such initial tilting of a tree is allowed and the center of gravity of the tree is considerably laterally displaced off-center, the tendency of the tree to further tilt is increased and most tree stands do not include a sufficiently large area supportive base to effectively resist such further tilting of a reasonably heavy tree. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved form of tree stand including structure by which the lower end of the tree trunk may be provided with suitable water and the tree trunk may be adequately braced against initial inclining from an upright position.
Various different forms of tree stands including some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 934,424, 2,534,349, 2,905,414, 3,191,266 and 3,142,464. However, these previously known forms of tree stands do not incorporate the combined structural features of the instant invention for the purpose of not only supporting a tree in a rigid manner against initial lateral deflection from an upright position but also in a manner providing ample water for the lower end of the trunk of the tree.